Overall
- Idaho Falls
- 94.4
Diff -4.2 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Idaho Falls
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Idaho Falls is 4.3% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
4.3% less expensive
Idaho Falls, ID is 4.3% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.4 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $95,724 in Idaho Falls; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 94.4 (Idaho Falls)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $95,724 purchasing power in Idaho Falls
- Services drives the gap (-25.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:ID 98.6→94.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × ID
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
Idaho Falls, ID is 4.3% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.2-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Idaho Falls 25.6 points lower than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands to $95,724 in Idaho Falls, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Idaho Falls share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 4.2 to 4.2 RPP points. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.6 to 4.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Idaho Falls RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 95.2 | 4.2 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 93.2 | 6.9 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 95.4 | 6.9 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 90.9 | 9.0 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 94.4 | 4.2 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Idaho Falls
- 96.2
Diff -4.5 RPP
Services
- Idaho Falls
- 69.7
Diff -25.6 RPP
Rents
- Idaho Falls
- 84.0
Diff -20.5 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Idaho Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 94.4 | -4.2 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.2 | -4.5 |
| Services | 95.3 | 69.7 | -25.6 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 84.0 | -20.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Idaho Falls 94.4
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Idaho Falls 96.2
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Idaho Falls 69.7
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Idaho Falls 84.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Idaho Falls for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Idaho Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,862 | $-2,138 |
| $75,000 | $71,793 | $-3,207 |
| $100,000 | $95,724 | $-4,276 |
| $150,000 | $143,587 | $-6,413 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Idaho Falls
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 94.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Idaho Falls
94.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Idaho Falls more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Idaho Falls is 4.3% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 94.4 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Idaho Falls equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $95,724 in Idaho Falls. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Idaho Falls?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Idaho Falls is at 84.0 (national average = 100). Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.